Dennis DeYoung: Artist Profile

Dennis DeYoung: Artist Profile

Born: February 18, 1947 Where: Chicago, Illinois Known As: rock singer/songwriter and keyboardist Significant Bands: Styx (1971-1984, 1990-99)

Awards:

The Albums: Hover over an album for the name and year of release. Click to see its DMDB page. Compilations: Live Albums: Key Tracks: Lady (Styx, 1972) Light Up (Styx, 1975) Lorelei (Styx, 1975) Suite Madame Blue (Styx, 1975) Come Sail Away (Styx, 1977) Babe (Styx, 1979) The Best of Times (Styx, 1981) Rockin’ the Paradise (Styx, 1981) Mr. Roboto (Styx, 1983) Don’t Let It End (Styx, 1983) Desert Moon (1984) Don’t Wait for Heroes (1984) Call Me (1986) This Is the Time (1986) Harry’s Hands (1989) Show Me the Way (Styx, 1990) Love at First Sight (Styx, 1990) Paradise (Styx, 1997) While There’s Still Time (Styx, 1999) With Every Heartbeat (2003) One Hundred Years from Now (2007) To the Good Old Days (with Julian Lennon, 2020) Isle of Misanthrope (2021) Click here to see the top 100 songs of Styx et al.

Early Years (1963-1972): “Growing up in the Roseland neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, DeYoung’s career as a vocalist started in 1963 at the age of 16 when he teamed up with his 15 year old neighbors, Chuck and John Panozzo, in a three-piece combo. The trio later added guitarist James Young and John Curulewski to form the band Tradewinds in the late 1960s. The band renamed itself TW4 in 1968 before becoming Styx in 1970.” WK “Before the band met with success, DeYoung spent time as an elementary school teacher in the southern suburbs of Chicago, where he taught music at Springfield School in Midlothian, Illinois. During this period, the band played a number of small venues and school auditoriums refining their craft.” WK The Wooden Nickel Years (1972-1974): Styx released four studio albums with the Wooden Nickel. They got their big break when Lady was picked up by a radio station in 1974, more than a year after its parent album, Styx II, was released. The song became a top-ten hit and launched the band. DeYoung, a self-taught keyboardist, served as the lead vocalist and songwriter and creative force behind the band. The Rise of Styx (1975-1977): Styx was signed to the major label A&M. They released Equinox in 1975, Crystal Ball in 1976, and The Grand Illusion in 1977. The latter album was a top-10, multi-platinum seller, fueled by another DeYoung-helmed top-ten hit Come Sail Away. The Giants of Rock and Roll (1977-1983): The Grand Illusion was Styx’s first of four consecutive top-10, multi-platinum albums – a feat never accomplished before. They led the way in what has been called arena rock or corporate rock. The band landed its first #1 hit in 1979 with Babe, another song written and sung by DeYoung. Their 1981 Paradise Theater became the band’s first #1 album. Once again, it was DeYoung out front for the #3 hit The Best of Times from that album. On the follow-up, Kilroy Was Here, DeYoung gave the band two more top-10 hits with Mr. Roboto and Don’t Let It End. The Solo Years (1984-1989): “With Styx in limbo following [bandmate Tommy] Shaw’s 1984 departure, DeYoung began a solo career of modest success. His first solo album, Desert Moon, generated a top 10 hit, Desert Moon, and the follow-up single, Don’t Wait for Heroes, cracked the Billboard Top 40 as well.” WK DeYoung made two more solo albums in the ‘80s featuring gems such as Call Me, This Is the Time, and Harry’s Hands, but none of his songs or albums would be as successful as his first solo album, much less his work with Styx. Styx Reunites (1990-1992): “In 1990, Styx (minus Tommy Shaw, who was replaced by guitarist/singer-songwriter Glen Burtnik) returned to the studio for the album Edge of the Century. Show Me the Way, a track written by DeYoung for his son Matthew, received extensive radio play, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart…particularly after a number of radio stations mixed it with voice tracks of parents headed off to fight in the first Persian Gulf War. This success made the band one of only a handful of bands/artists to have a top ten single under four different Presidents in the United States. The group toured North America extensively before A&M Records…dropped the group from its roster in 1992; the group broke up again shortly afterwards.” WK DDY on the Theater Stage (1992-1995): “In 1993, DeYoung, a devout Roman Catholic, joined a touring revival of the stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar. He appeared in about 200 performances across North America as Pontius Pilate. The experience inspired him to record his 1994 album of Broadway standards, 10 on Broadway, and to begin work on a musical of his own based on The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Styx, Together Again (1995-1999): “Styx reunited once more in 1995, this time including Shaw but minus a terminally ill John Panozzo (who died a short time later in July 1996), and recorded a new version of the DeYoung-penned ‘Lady’ for their 1995 Styx Greatest Hits album. The group toured in 1996 and 1997, and returned to the recording studio in 1998 to begin work on Brave New World, their first studio album in nearly a decade.” WK “Creative differences between the band members, and a chronic fatigue syndrome-like disorder affecting DeYoung’s trigeminal nerve – which left him overly sensitive to bright light and sound, making performing on stage nearly impossible” WK – led to a less than amicable split. This time, however, Styx soldiered on with Shaw and without DeYoung. “A lawsuit between DeYoung and his former bandmates was settled in 2001, with the group being allowed to keep the name ‘Styx’ and DeYoung able to use the name in descriptive phrases such as ‘the music of Styx’ or ‘formerly of Styx’ (but not ‘the voice of Styx’).” WK Back to the Solo World (2000-: “In February 2000, DeYoung was approached to perform a concert featuring his many songs from Styx, as well as his solo works and his 1997 stage musical The Hunchback of Notre Dame, with an orchestra. The show, performed at the Rosemont Theatre in DeYoung’s hometown of Chicago, was a family affair for DeYoung. His wife Suzanne,” WK to whom he had been married since even before Styx’s success, “and sister-in-law Dawn Marie Feusi sang backup, his daughter Carrie Ann, was in charge of publicity, while his son Matthew designed the stage lighting. The concert was well received and formed the basis for a touring version of the show, and eventually an 2004 album, The Music of Styx – Live with Symphony Orchestra.” WK “Unlike many musical families, the growing family toured together throughout DeYoung’s career in order to provide stability for the couple’s young children.” WK “On June 19, 2007, DeYoung released in Canada, One Hundred Years from Now, his fifth solo album, which marks a return to his rock roots. The first single, the title track, is a duet with Québécois singer Éric Lapointe. The single reached #1 on the Québec Radio Single and Soundscan charts. The album was released in the U.S. on April 14, 2009 with slightly different tracks.” WK “On May 8, 2008, a DeYoung-written musical of The Hunchback of Notre Dame premiered at the Bailiwick Repertory Theatre in Chicago.” WK After a 13-year hiatus from the recording studio, Dennis returned with the solo album 26 East Volume 1 in 2020. It was followed by 26 East Volume 2 in 2021. He says it is the last album he’ll make. Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Dennis DeYoung DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Styx DennisDeYoung.com (official site) StyxWorld.com (official site) WK Wikipedia First posted 11/20/2011; updated 6/5/2021.

The Styx Defense

Sparked by a Facebook post, I gloriously came to the defense of my first favorite band – Styx. In the world of musical journalism, professing a love of Styx is somewhat akin to telling the science world that evolutionism is bogus.

To be fair, in his original post on his Todays Song Is ... fan page, Michael Crawley acknowledges the dichotomy of fan love vs. critical drubbing. In picking Styx’s “Suite Madame Blue” as the song of the day, he says it “is steeped in the Yes/Zeppelin fusion that was attractive early on but got old right about the time ‘Blue Collar Man’ hit the airwaves. I do love this song, but it’s sorta like an old girlfriend who later went around the block a few too many times.”



My response: “Critics be damned. Styx was my first favorite band and I’ll always like them.” I’d posted a similar sentiment as far back as September 5, 2009: “Styx may get mocked for being at the forefront of the late-‘70s/early ‘80s stadium rock movement, but they were my first favorite band and Paradise Theater was my first favorite album. You never get that out of your system!”


Click photo for more about ‘Paradise Theater’.

Michael was one of my first fans when I started my Dave’s Music Database Facebook page. Between our comments on each other’s pages, I’ve probably shared more musical dialogue with Michael than anyone in the last six months. We share a mutual respect for passion over music and, so far, have not come to cyberspace blows over musical opinions.

Having said all that, I still felt like a dagger had been plunged into my soul (okay, in reality I only winced slightly) with his comment that “from Pieces of Eight on they kinda sucked IMHO.” I declined retaliating that “Babe”, off the follow-up 1979 Cornerstone album, was my first “official” favorite song. Such an admission would have required 1) confessing that I liked such an unabashedly saccharine song and, 2) acknowledging that oh-so-many-years-ago I launched my own weekly music chart and that “Babe” was the maiden chart topper.



Iinstead I boldly and loudly proclaimed that Paradise Theater was one of my top 5 favorite albums. Okay, truth be told, I followed my declaration with “bows head in shame.”

I didn’t advocate that “The Best of Times”, “Too Much Time on My Hands”, and “Rockin’ the Paradise” have become deserved album rock classics since airplay doesn’t equal critical acclaim. I didn’t respond that this was a #1 album (their solitary chart-topper, in fact) and fourth consecutive triple-platinum album. That might win an argument over the album’s commercial success, but it doesn’t go far in proving its critical worth.

Since great artwork doesn’t equal great music, I also didn’t gush about the album packaging with a front picture of Chicago’s Paradise Theater in its prime paired with a back cover of it long past its glory days. Similarly, while I was originally intrigued by the album’s theme – a lament about abandoning the old in favor of the new – I realize now how loose and unoriginal the concept was.

Instead, I quoted from Steve Almond’s Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life, a book from a self-proclaimed “Drooling Fanatic” and an inspiration for a previous DMDB blog entry (“The Musical Hierarchy Ladder”). Among his humorous essays is a defense of Paradise Theater in which he admits “I loved Styx and...still love Styx and not ironically either.” He says that even though “Styx has become the mullet of bands”, he still feels good when he listens to Paradise Theater.


Buy the book.

So do I. That’s the thing about loving a band – you love them regardless of their critical status or commercial clout. You love them because – well, just because you love them. Almond suggests that critics would do well to be more open-minded, stating that “if the human ear is given a chance, not cowed into snobbery, it can find rewards in almost any form of music.”

The discussion Michael and I started on his Facebook page carried over to mine when I professed my love of Tears for Fears’ Songs from the Big Chair. In defending the album, I said I’d use “the Styx defense”, my earlier declaration that one likes what one likes, critics be damned. On Michael’s page, I originally quoted another Almond line, which should be the mantra for all people ever faced with defending music that they love: “you can’t tell someone his or her ears are wrong.”

To Michael’s credit, this was his response on his page to my defense of Styx: “I close this with a tidbit from Cole or Dylan Sprouse when they played Julian on the movie Big Daddy – Styx is the greatest band in the world and they only got a bad rep because most critics are cynical A$$holes!”

That’s good enough for me. I’ll close with that, too.

This essay, “The Musical Hierarchy Ladder”, and more are included in the book ‘No One Needs 21 Versions of ‘Purple Haze’…And Other Essays from a Musical Obsessive’. Click for more info.

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Resources and Related Links:

• Styx’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry
  
• Styx’s DMDB page for Paradise Theater
  
• DMDB 6/26/10 blog entry: “The Musical Hierarchy Ladder”
  
• No One Needs 21 Versions of ‘Purple Haze’…And Other Essays from a Musical Obsessive
  
• Todays Song Is… Facebook page
  
• SteveAlmond.com
  

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Styx charted with “The Best of Times”

The Best of Times Styx

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Styx hit #1 with “Babe”

 

Babe Styx

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Styx charted with Cornerstone

Cornerstone Styx

Charted: October 13, 1979 Peak: 2 US, 36 UK, 11 CN, 21 AU, 13 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 2.0 US Genre: classic arena rock

Tracks: Click on a song titled for more details. Lights [4:38] Why Me [3:54] Babe [4:25] Never Say Never [3:08] Boat on the River [3:10] Borrowed Time [4:58] First Time [4:24] Eddie [4:15] Love in the Midnight [5:25] Total Running Time: 38:17 The Players: Dennis DeYoung (vocals, keyboards) Tommy Shaw (vocals, guitar) James “J.Y.” Young (guitar, vocals) Chuck Panozzo (bass) John Panozzo (drums)

Rating: 3.584 out of 5.00 (average of 23 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Another Hit Styx hit the big time with 1977’s The Grand Illusion when it went top 10 and multi-platinum on the strength of two top-40 hits. 1978’s Pieces of Eight replicated the feat, setting high expectations for 1979’s Cornerstone. Commercially, the album kept pace with its predecessors’ accomplishments. In fact, it became their highest-charting album to date, landing at #2. Styx was even named America’s favorite band in a 1979 Gallup poll. AZ “Cornerstone is Styx at their most accessible and melodic,” AZ emphasizing their “pop sound more than the progressive rock influences that dominated their first eight studio albums.” WK “The songs aren’t as tight or assertive as their last few albums” AM and the album “tends to sound a tad weaker than one would expect.” AM A Rift in the Band The lead single, “Babe,” took Styx to the top of the charts but the song “irked longtime fans with its MOR sweetness” UCR and showed “the first fragmenting of the group’s collective artistic vision” WK eventually leading to their breakup after 1983’s Kilroy Was Here. Tommy Shaw threatened to leave the band and Dennis DeYoung was even briefly fired, although he returned to the fold before word got to the press or the public. WK The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

Lights Styx

Writer(s): Dennis DeYoung, Tommy Shaw Released: May 1980 as a single (UK), Cornerstone (1979) Peak: 41 CL, 6 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.93 streaming About the Song: Lights, “the album’s vibrant lead track,” SW “implement[s] silky harmonies and welcoming choruses” AM and showcased Tommy Shaw’s songwriting and vocals. The song was eventually released in the UK as a single but didn’t chart. Frankly, it seems an obvious choice as a single and would have been a better choice than “Why Me” or “Borrowed Time.” It’s hard not imagine it being a top-20 hit had it been released as the follow-up to “Babe.” An argument could even be made that, coming off Shaw’s success with singles from the previous album, it would have been a good fit as the lead-off single.

Why Me Styx

Writer(s): Dennis DeYoung Released: 12/15/1979 as a single, Cornerstone (1979) Peak: 26 BB, 19 CB, 18 HR, 12 RR< 9 CL, 10 CN, 7 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.04 streaming About the Song: Why Me, another DeYoung-penned tune, was released as the second single. The more upbeat tune showcased the band’s experimentation with new sounds, such as horns, as did Borrowed Time. AZ

Babe Styx

Writer(s): Dennis DeYoung (see lyrics here) Released: September 1979 as a single, Cornerstone (1979), Caught in the Act (live, 1984), Classics (compilation, 1987) Peak: 12 BB, 13 CB, 12 HR, 13 RR, 9 AC, 1 CL, 6 UK, 16 CN, 3 AU, 1 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.25 UK, 1.25 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 20.0 video, 136.62 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: The album was propelled by Babe, Styx’s only #1 hit and “one of the best rock ballads ever.” AM Dennis DeYoung wrote the song as a birthday present to his wife Suzanne, thanking her for her patience with his life on the road. WK It “is a smooth, keyboard-pampered love song that finally credited Dennis De Young's textured vocals.” AM It is “perhaps the prototypical I-love-you-but-I-just-gotta-go power ballad,” AZ which would “endear itself to a generation of prom-goers” AZ in the same vein as their “1975 slow-dance classic ‘Lady.’” AZ In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, arguably the four pillars of what has become known as “arena rock” or “corporate rock” found themselves in similar positions. Foreigner, Journey, REO Speedwagon, and Styx all emerged in the 1970s as staples on album rock radio. The four also shared another commonality – their greatest commercial successes came because of power ballads. These slower love songs evoked eye-rolling amongst some die-hard fans who considered such fare schmaltzy and selling out, but gave the bands even greater followings. Styx singer and keyboardist Dennis DeYoung said, “According to some people, you’re either a rock and roll band, or you’re not. And anybody who plays ballads was looked down upon by the radio establishment.” FB REO Speedwagon topped the Billboard Hot 100 with “Keep on Loving You” in 1981, Foreigner’s “Waiting for a Girl Like You” spent a whopping 10 weeks in the runner-up slot in 1981 and ’82, and Journey nabbed six weeks at #2 in 1982. Before any of those three, however, Styx paved the way with their 1979 #1 hit “Babe.” DeYoung wrote the song for his wife Suzanne as a birthday present. The couple met in 1964 and married in 1970. As he said, “Being on the road…puts a strain on a relationship…I wanted to tell her how much I missed her when I was gone.” FB In the 2014 concert video Dennis DeYoung and the Music of Styx Live in Los Angeles, he joked that he hoped it would get him out of buying her jewelry, but it didn’t work. It wasn’t intended as a Styx song; he recorded “Babe” as a demo with Styx drummer John Panozzo and bassist Chuck Panozzo, singing all the harmonies himself. When the band decided to put it on their Cornerstone album, they overdubbed a Tommy Shaw guitar solo in the middle section. WK Suzanne herself said she thought the song was as good as, if not better, than “Lady,” the band’s first top-ten hit. FB When the record company heard the song, they echoed her feelings and pushed for releasing it as a single. SF Their instinct proved correct; not only was it the band’s only #1 in the U.S., but their only top 40 hit in the UK, where it reached #6. It was also a chart-topper in Canada and South Africa.

Never Say Never Styx

Writer(s): Tommy Shaw Released: Cornerstone (1979) Peak: 31 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.51 streaming About the Song: There’s nothing particularly memorable or adventurous about this rocker from Tommy Shaw. His definite highlights on the Cornerstone album are “Lights” and “Boat on the River.”

Boat on the River Styx

Writer(s): Tommy Shaw Released: 3/16/1980 as a single (UK), Cornerstone (1979) Peak: 5 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 35.43 streaming About the Song: Tommy Shaw had burst to the forefront in a big way on the band’s previous album, Pieces of Eight, with two top-40 hits in the way of “Blue Collar Man” and “Renegade.” He sadly didn’t experience the same success on Cornerstone with Dennis DeYoung re-exerting his balladry skills on the #1 hit “Babe” and the follow-up single “Why Me.” Shaw, however, did helm two of the album’s best cuts in “Boat on the River” and “Lights.” The former added mandolin and accordion to the mix. Meanwhile bassist Chuck Panozzo played a bowed, stand-up double bass. He said, “It was something I hadn’t done before in the studio…Some people were skeptical about it, but that wasn’t going to stop me from trying it. I thought it was the right thing to do for the song, and I think it worked out perfectly.” SW It was released as a single in the UK and, according to StyxWorld.com, is “the band’s biggest hit internationally, having topped the charts in Switzerland and reaching the top 5 in countries like Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands.” SW It is also “the band’s most-covered track, with many of those covers having been done in languages other than English,” SW again, according to StyxWorld.com. Tommy Shaw said, “It still amazes me how much impact that song has had on people over the years, and how far and wide it has reached all over the globe.” SW

Borrowed Time Styx

Writer(s): Dennis DeYoung, Tommy Shaw Released: 3/29/1980 as a single (US), Cornerstone (1979) Peak: 64 BB, 74 CB, 63, HR, 33 CL, 76 CN, 7 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.60 streaming About the Song: This is one of the more rock-oriented tunes on the album. It was released as the third single.

First Time Styx

Writer(s): Dennis DeYoung Released: Cornerstone (1979) Peak: 8 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 4.55 streaming About the Song: Initially, First Time was intended as the second single, but Tommy Shaw was concerned about the band alienating its fan base by releasing two ballads in a row. WK

Eddie Styx

Writer(s): James Young Released: Cornerstone (1979) Peak: 31 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.39 streaming About the Song: This James Young rocker offers a warning to Ted Kennedy not to run for President for fear that he’ll suffer the same fate as his murdered brothers. It was a weird topic for a song.

Love in the Midnight Styx

Writer(s): Tommy Shaw Released: Cornerstone (1979) Peak: 38 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.55 streaming About the Song: Tommy Shaw wraps up the Cornerstone album with this fairly forgettable rocker.

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review by Mike DeGagne AZ Amazon review by Daniel Durchholz FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 517. UCR UltimateClassicRock.com (5/9/2016). “Styx Albums Ranked Worst to Best” SF Songfacts page for “Babe” SW StyxWorld.com (10/19/2019). “Cornerstone Turns 40 Today!” WK Wikipedia page for Cornerstone WK Wikipedia page for “Babe” Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 8/12/2025.